THE FOUNDATION
The 7 Pillars of Ubuntu
A house keeps the rain out. A village keeps a life whole. These seven pillars are how we decide what to build next — and how we know whether the work is finished.
PILLAR 01
Education
Learning is the first thing a child loses when a home is lost. Restoring shelter only counts if the children in it can keep studying.
IN THE VILLAGE
Homeschooling already runs on site, and the Ubuntu Learning & Leadership Academy is still in planning stages on a newly purchased one-acre site.
PILLAR 02
Healthcare
Health is a housing issue. Mary Bonekosira could not safely store her HIV medication until she had a dry, secure home.
IN THE VILLAGE
A community clinic is planned alongside the academy, serving the widows, their families and the surrounding village.
PILLAR 03
Music & The Arts
Ubuntu International grew out of music. Song, drumming and story are how this community celebrates, grieves and remembers together.
IN THE VILLAGE
Drumming, singing and dance are part of village life and every handover, with Pato Banton and Antoinette Hall bringing their work as musicians into it.
PILLAR 04
Environment & Agriculture
Permaculture and horticulture turn land into a long-term food supply rather than a one-off harvest — soil that keeps giving back.
IN THE VILLAGE
An organic garden already feeds the families, and Phase III is landscaping the land into a sustainable food forest.
PILLAR 05
Play
Fun, exercise and sport are not extras. They are how children who have lived through disaster become children again.
IN THE VILLAGE
Open ground for football and games sits at the heart of the village, and a sports field is part of the academy site plan.
PILLAR 06
Justice
Social and economic justice means widows owning secure land and homes, and having a say in the decisions that shape their lives.
IN THE VILLAGE
Six acres were purchased, and eight homes were handed over to the widows, and they are on the road to self-sustainability.
PILLAR 07
Spiritual & Wisdom
“I am because we are.” Ubuntu is the reason this village exists, and women and children are its keepers rather than its dependents.
IN THE VILLAGE
Leaders lead the village's quiet life — welcome, blessing, counsel — and every project begins with the community naming its own need.